Sony offers integrated YouView on 2015 Bravia range

YouView will be integrated into Sony's new 2015 Bravia televisions running on the Android TV platform.

The announcement of the partnership between Sony and YouView means that the Japanese manufacturer is the first to offer YouView integrated into a television, rather than a set-top box.

YouView's intuitive scroll-back EPG will offer all the UK catch-up services, meaning you can fire up BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD or Demand 5 right from the EPG, rather than having to open the app and search for the programme you want to watch.

YouView also offers excellent searching functionality, letting you search across live, future and past programming, making it really easy to quickly find content you want to watch.

To date, those who wanted YouView would have to gain access via a set-top box, either as a standalone purchase (approx £199), or via their ISP from TalkTalk or BT.

Integrated YouView will be on all Sony's Android TVs, which is the majority of the 2015 range. There are a few TVs at the entry-level that won't be YouView enabled. The included TVs are: (4K models) X94C, X93C, X90C, S85C, X85C, X83C; (Full HD models) W85C, W80C, W75C.

Additionally, some of the 2015 sets will be on sale before the roll-out of YouView, so they will be updated to integrate the service.

We're big fans of YouView: it's a lovely evolution of Freeview, integrating all the domestic catch-up services in a convenient way.

Android TV is also a new direction for Sony's 2015 televisions, meaning you'll be able to get access to lots of apps. We're not sure exactly how the crossover between YouView and Android TV will happen, or how the two systems will co-exist.

The update is expected in summer 2015 and we're yet to see it in-action on a Sony TV.

We will, of course, bring you more detail on how these stablemates play together, as soon as we can.